Egg producer Sparboe Farms upgrading facilities at Minnesota complex

Egg company plans to demolish eight outdated barns, replace them with three larger buildings

Egg producer Sparboe Farms has begun a multi-million dollar project to remove outdated barns at its Prairie Complex in Litchfield, Minn., and replace them with more modern facilities. The move is expected to help Sparboe Farms increase its capacity from 554,272 hens to 1.8 million hens.

The old barns were built in the 1970s, and Sparboe Farms wants to build new ones that would ultimately help the company save on energy and labor costs, the Independent Review reported.

While the plan is to reduce the number of buildings, the newer houses will be larger and would help the company more than triple the amount of hens in the operation. The buildings will include cages with movable partitions and perch bars, which will help Sparboe make needed adjustments in case of changes in hen housing regulations.

One of the three proposed hen houses is already under construction, while government agencies are reviewing proposals for the other two.